Button-feeding mechanism for sewing-machines.



No. 791,830. PATENTBD JUNE 6, 1905.

' v w. J. SMITH. BUTTON FEEDING MECHANISM 011 SEWING MACHINES.

KPPLIUATION FILED JAN.11,1905.

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N0. '79l,830. PATENTED JUNE 6, 1905.

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- W. J. SMITH. BUTTON FEEDING MECHANISM FOR SEWING MACHINES.

APPLICATION FILED JAN. 11, 1905. a SHEETS-SHEET s.

TQXRMOOQA I Q UNITED STATES Patented June 6, 1905.

PATENT OEEIcE.

WILLIAM JAMES SMITH, OF NASHVILLE, TENNESSEE, ASSIGNOR OF- ONE-HALF TO HENRY Gr. NIOHOL, OF NASHVILLE, TENNESSEE.

BUTTON-FEEDING MECHANISM FOR SEWING-MACHINES.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 791,830, dated June 6, 1905.

Application filed January 11, 1905. Serial No. 240,580.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, WILLIAM JAMES SMITH, a citizen of the United States, and a resident of Nashville, county of Davidson, State of Tennessee, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Button-Feeding Mechanism, of which the following is a specification.

My invention relates to machines for sewing buttons on garments-'such as trousers, &c.and especially to mechanism for feeding the buttons one at a time to the button-clamp; and my object is to provide a machine of this type with mechanism automatically actuated by the shifting of the work for feeding buttons one at a time to the button-clamp which shall be simple in construction and effective in operation and capable of attachment to existing machines.

With these objects in View my invention consists in the novel construction and details thereof, as hereinafter described with reference to the accompanying drawings and more particularly pointed out in the claims.

In the drawings, Figure 1 is a side elevation of a sufficient portion of a common type of sewing-machine, illustrating my invention ap plied thereto. Fig. 2 is an end elevation thereof. Fig. 3 is a top plan view in -detail of the work and button clamp and connected parts of the button-race. Fig. 4 is a detail, partly in section, of the button-clamp. Fig. 5 is a sectional detail of a part of the button-race. Fig. 6 is a top plan view, with cover removed. of the button-hopper; and Fig. 7 is a central transverse section thereof on the line 7 7 Fig. 6.

Referringto the drawings, in which the same reference characters relate to the same or corresponding parts in all the views, the numeral 1 indicatesthe bed-plate of a sewing-machine,

arm 8 of the lever 6, fulcrumed at 7 with the treadle, as' usual in this type of sewing-ma: chines. v

Carried by the liften-bar 5 is an arm 9, adapted to engage an overlapping arm 10, projecting upwardly from the upper member 11 ofa two-part clamp, the lower member 12' of which is hinged to the upper member and normally held in contact therewith by a spring 14:, confined between the upper member 11 and the head of a post 13, extending upwardly from the lower member 12. Carried by the outer end of the lower member 12 of the clamp is a button-clamp 15, provided with a hole 18, through which the needle operates and in which the button is centered for sewing. This button-clamp has an undercut groove 16 for by a gate 17, held in position by a spring 20,

one end of which is connected to an arm 19, extending upwardly from said gate, and the other end to a bracket 21, carried by the upwardly-projecting portion 22.01 the button-- clamp, and to this bracket the said gate isfulcrumed. When a sewed-on button is caused to engage the edge of the gate, as the work is shifted the said button will swing the gate laterally against the tension of the spring 20,

normally closing the gate, and when released from the said button the spring 20 will close said gate.

The button-race consists, essentially, of three sections 23, 2 1, and 25, the lower section 23 being hinged, as before described, to the upward extension 22 of the button-clamp, the intermediate section24 telescopically fitting withinthe section 23 and hinged to the upper or fixed section 25. The upper section 25 is attached at its upper end to an inclined button-hopper 27, and each section is provided with a-groove forming a continuous raceway in which the buttons travel downwardly, such groove being made in any suitable manner, as by overlapping the edges of the sheet metal of which the raceway may be made sufficiently to form retaining-walls on either side of the raceway, constituting, with the body portion of the metal thus bent, a groove for confining the opposite edges of the buttons. If desired, a wire guard 47 may extend midway of the button-race, said guard being supported by crosspieces 48, secured to the open gate of the raceway at suitable intervals. This guard, however, is not essential, as it is obvious that the overlapping edges of the race will suffice to hold and guide the buttons. The hopper 27 is provided with a chute 28 in continuation of the raceway in the button-race above described, the upper end of which terminates beneath a cap 29, adapted to be intermittently rotated by a shaft 30, on which is mounted an arm 33, carrying a pawl 32, adapted to engage the teeth of a ratchet-wheel 31, fixed to said shaft. The arm 33 may be oscillated in any suitable manner, as by means of a rod or link 34, connected to a pin 36, carried by a web on a wheel 35, or to a crank-disk rotatably mounted in suitable bearings on the top of the sewingmachine arm. This crank-disk or wheel may be operated by a suitable connection with the operating mechanism of the machine. (Not deemed necessary to show.) Extending from the sides of the cap 29 are tangential arms 26, adapted to sweep the bottom of the hopper as the shaft is oscillated. These arms serve to carry or convey the buttons placed in the hopper toward the open end of the chute 28 and feed them lower side up therein as the column of buttons in the raceway diminishes through the feed to the button-clamp in the following manner: All buttons are flat on one side and slightly rounded on'the other. The buttons are poured into the hopper 27, the bottom of which is swept by the arms 26. These arms are so arranged, being one-sixteenth of an inch in thickness and sliding along the bottom, that in their rotation they will only catch such buttons as lie face downward, the others being turned over by the arms as they slide under the rounded edges. The buttons caught by the arms 26 are slid along the bottom of the hopper until at the chute 28 by gravity they drop face downward, each arm stopping momentarily as it reaches the chute, since the cap 29, carried by the shaft 30, to which the arms are attached, is intermittently operated by the pawl-andratchet mechanism above described.

The buttons are fed one at a time to the button-clamp by means of a button-controlling mechanism consisting, essentially, of a button-stop comprising an oscillating arm or plate 42, provided with fingers 43, projecting into the path of the buttons in the race, and carried by an arm 41, pivoted to the side of the fixed section 25 of the button-raceway, from which plate or arm 41 extend pins 40, (see Figs. 1 and 2,) between which is confined the arm 39 of a button-controlling rod 37, mounted in brackets 38 and 45, extending from the side of the raceway. The lower end of this rod 37 is provided with a tappet 46, which is normally held in the position shown in Figs. 1 and 2 by means of a spring 44, coiled around the rod 37, having one end fixed to said rod and the other end to the lower bracket 45. This spring is of sufficient tension to cause the rod 37 to turn in its bearings backward to the normal position shown after the said rod has been operated as below described. The tappet 46 in its normal position is in the path of movement of the arm 19 as the latter is swung by the opening movement of the gate 17, the parts being so arranged that as the said gate is opened the arm 19 will engage the tappet 46, thereby turning the rod 37 in its bearings, and thus swinging the plate 42 so as to lift its lower finger 43 out of engagement with the lower button of the column of buttons in the raceway and at the same time bring the upper finger into the position to stop the succeeding button. This movement releases, therefore, a single button, permitting the latter to travel down the raceway into the button-clamp. As the button travels from the raceway to the button-clamp the parts resume the normal position shown in Figs. 1 and 2, the work having been shifted and the gate released from the sewedon button, thus permitting the latter to re sume its closed position, and thereby releasing the tappet 46, which permits the spring 44 to turn the rod 37, and thereby swing the button-stop to normal position, thus allowing the column of buttons to descend until the lowermost button is stopped and held by the lower finger 43.

The provision of the hinged sections 23 and 24 and the telescopic connection between the same, it will be observed, permits sufiicient movement of the former sections with relation to the latter, as the button-clamp is lifted without disturbing the relation between the parts.

I do not in this application claim the twopart clamp, as that forms a part of the subject-matter of my application for Letters Patent filed January 11, 1905, Serial No. 240,581, and is only shown herein as one form of clamp which may be used in connection with the button clamp and feeding mechanism.

I claim as my invention 1. The combination with a machine for sewing on buttons, of a raceway for thebuttons, a button-clamp having a movable gate, a button-controlling rod, a button-stop adapted to be actuated by said rod, and means operated by the movement of the gate for swinging the rod to release one button at a time, substantially as described.

2. The combination with a machine for sewing on buttons, of a button-clamp having a movable gate normally closing one side of the clamp and adapted to be engaged by a sewedon button as the work is shifted, a raceway for the buttons adapted to feed the buttons to the clamp, a spring-actuated button-controlling device engaging the lower button in the raceway, and connections between the gate.

and said button-controlling device, whereby a single button at a time may be released as the work is shifted, substantially as described.

3. In a machine for sewing on buttons, the combination with a button-clamp, a movable gate closing one side of the clamp, a raceway for the buttons and adapted to fit the same to said clamp, a rod mounted in bearings in the raceway and having a tappet'thereon in the path of movement of the gate, an oscillating plate having fingers adapted to project into the path of the buttons, an arm on the rod adapted to oscillate the said plate, a spring normally holding the plate so as to confine the buttons, whereby as the work is shifted the button-controlling rod is oscillated and one button at a time released for feeding to the clamp, substantially as described.

4. In a machine for sewing on buttons, the combination of a button-clamp, a button-hopper mounted on the machine, a raceway connecting the hopper with the clamp COIDPIIS'. ing a fixed upper section, an intermediate section hinged thereto, a lower section hinged to the button-clamp and having a sliding connection with the intermediate section,'means for lifting'theclamp, and means for feeding the buttons one at a time to said clamp, substantially as described.

5. In a machine for sewing on buttons, the combination of a button-clamp, a button-hopper mounted on the machine, a raceway connecting the hopper with the clamp comprising a fixed upper section, an intermediate section hinged thereto, a lower section hinged to the button-clamp and having a sliding connection with the intermediate section, means for lifting the clamp, a button-controlling device mounted in the raceway adapted to hold the buttons therein, and connections between the button-clamp and the button-controlling device operated by the shifting of the work to feed the buttons one at atime to said clamp, substantially as described.

6. In a machine for sewing on buttons, the combination of a button-clamp, a button-hop per mounted on the machine, a raceway connecting the hopper with the clamp comprising a fixed upper section, an intermediate section hinged thereto, a lower section hinged to the button-clamp and having a sliding connection with the intermediate section, means for lifting the clamp, a button -stop pivotally mounted on the raceway, a button-controlling rod engaging said stop and adapted to move the same, a tappet-arm on said rod, and a movable gate closing one side of the buttonclamp and having an arm adapted to engage the tappet-arm and swing the same, and thereby release one button at a time for feeding to the clamp as the work is shifted, substantially as described.

7 In a machinefor sewing on buttons, the combination with the button-clamp, of a raceway for feeding buttons thereto, a buttonhopper having a chute in its bottom communicating with said raceway, a rotary cap in said hopper covering the upper end of the chute, one or more thin flat arms on said cap in close contact with the bottom of the hop per adapted to sweep the buttons into the chute, and means for intermittently rotating said cap, substantially as described.

8. In a machine for sewing on buttons, the combination with the button-clamp, of a raceway for feeding buttons thereto, a buttonhopper having a chute in its bottom commu nicating with said raceway, a rotary cap in said hopper covering the upper end of the chute, one or more thin fiat arms on said cap in close contact with the bottom of the hopper adapted to sweep the buttons into the chute, and pawl-and-ratchet mechanism operatively connected with said cap for imparting intermittent rotary movement thereto, substantially as described. A

9. In a machine for sewing on buttons, the combination of a button-clamp, a button-hopper, a raceway connecting the hopper with the clamp, means for lifting the clamp, a buttoncontrolling device mounted in the raceway adapted to hold the buttons therein, and connections between the button-clamp and the button-controlling device operated by the shifting of the work to feed the buttons one at a time to said clamp, substantially as described.

10. In a machine for sewing on buttons, the combination of a button-clamp, a button-hopper, a raceway connecting the hopper with the clamp, a button-controlling device adapted to hold the buttons on the raceway, and connections between the button-clamp and the but ton-controlling device operated by the shifting of the work to feed the buttons one at a time to said clamp, substantially as described.

In testimony whereofI have signed my name to this specification in the presence of two subscribing witnesses.

WILLIAM JAMES SMITH.

Witnesses:v

JOHN RUHM, JNo. RUHM, Jr. 

